College of St. Benilde-La Salle Greenhills remains the first and only team assured of a place in the next round of the NCAA 94 Men’s Basketball Tournament.

San Beda High School tried its best to get that as well on Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre, but was instead rejected by the Junior Blazers who registered a 81-78 come-from-behind win.

Main man Joel Cagulangan topped the scoring column with 24 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists, but only made 9-of-22 shots from the field

In the endgame, it was Sydney Mosqueda who came through, scoring 10 of his 19 points in the tight final frame. “We’re happy with the win because our boys showed resiliency,” head coach Marvin Bienvenida said post-game.

The defending champions were down by five points inside the last four minutes until Mosqueda went on a 5-0 run to tie the tally.

The Red Cubs again took the lead, 75-72, and even had a chance to increase it, but Inand Fornilos stole the ball and the possession from them.

At the other end, Mosqueda then set up Fornilos for an easy look inside that proved to be the go-ahead basket.

San Beda would keep coming from that point, but Cagulangan had all the answers for CSB-LSGH which strengthened its stranglehold on the top-seed.

Now at 13-2, they are one win away from clinching the twice-to-beat advantage. “We are still taking it one game at a time. We are not done proving to ourselves that we are getting better each and every game,” coach Marvin said.

For the now 10-5 Red Cubs, Zach Estacio showed the way with 13 points while Joshua Lazaro also had a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double.

A win would have assured them of at least a playoff for a Final Four spot. Instead, they now find themselves still behind 11-4 Mapua High School and just ahead of 9-6 Jose Rizal High School and 8-7 Lyceum of the Philippines University.

In the day’s other game, University of Perpetual Help stayed alive after beating down San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 82-67.

Emman Galman was on fire all game long and wound up with a career-best 30 points and was backstopped by Tony Ogunsanya who posted a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double.

Just at halftime, Galman already had 17 markers to his name, almost matching the output of their opponents at 22.

At 6-9, the Junior Altas still have a boxer’s chance at snatching a playoff berth.

On the other hand, now at 5-10, the Staglets are no longer in contention for the Final Four. Kean Baclaan fronted their effort in this one with 24 points, six rebounds, five steals, and four assists.